OB OS: The Recreation
by Lord of Ki
Summary: One is of Blood, the Other is of Steel... their history with each other will have them meet at first as foes... but a dangerous new enemy will make them brothers, and begin a new era. An era, of Chaos.
1. Chaos Controlled

One of Blood, Other of Steel: The Recreation

1 

High above Earth, floating in a slow, thorough course around the blue planet's orbit, was one of the most magnificent structures created by mankind.

The first Bernal Space Colony…

The Ark.

But for over fifty years however, the colony has remained uninhabited due a military shut down of the colony when it was deemed a threat to the continued existence of the very planet it orbited.

Hundreds of lives were unjustly taken, and the lead scientist aboard the Ark, Professor Gerald, was captured and executed soon after.

For the Ark possessed a deadly weapon, the Eclipse Cannon, an insanely powerful weapon of mass destruction that could destroy an entire world in an instant, thus the reason why it came to be feared and summarily, decommissioned.

But very recently, the Ark has proved that in the right hands, it could be used to save the world that had come to fear it.

So could the one who'd used it…

***

"Shadow, please…I beg of you…do it for me… for all people of the planet… please give them a chance to be happy…"

So… that's what this girl… Maria… wanted…

Shadow the Hedgehog, Ultimate Life-form, another great achievement of mankind and recovered amnesiac, focused intently on the photograph he held in his hand as he stood within a small chamber aboard the Ark.

On the photograph, were two people who had given up their lives just so he could have the right to exist.

Professor Gerald Robotnik, his creator, was sitting down in a seat, smiling gently despite the large white mustache that attempted to hide it, as his picture was taken.

And to his right, leaning slightly on his shoulder, was a beautiful young girl with long light blonde hair wearing a blue dress.

Maria…

He could remember them both now so clearly, a small part of him was ashamed he could have ever forgotten. He owed them more then he could ever possibly give them now.

They'd given him the strength to defeat the powerful monster that had called himself Black Doom, and with the power of this Space Colony, destroyed the creature's entire army that had sought to drain the very life from the planet Gerald and Maria both cherished so much, but had only hated them in return.

A truly ironic twist that had left Maria dead, and Professor Gerald to go insane with grief before he himself was killed.

Shadow snorted derisively and shook his head.

The selfish stupidity of mankind always befuddled and enraged him at the same time.

Anything that was new or different they would always inevitably hate or treat with suspicion and mistrust.

Taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, the ebony hedgehog stared at the Earth through the large viewport before him.

This planet, filled with so many ungrateful beings…

Did its people truly deserve the kindness that Maria had wanted for them?

Did they deserve his protection?

Well… he would see…

But in his own way…

Shadow the Hedgehog stared at the photograph he held in his hand for one last time.

Stared at the people who'd sacrificed themselves for him and a world of peace… and realized he could no longer allow them to hold him back from the future that it was up to him to create.

The world suddenly blurred…

His eyes, were they burning…?

Shadow blinked hard, no, just his imagination.

He turned away from the magnificent view of the planet Earth, and without so much as a second glance tossed the photograph away.

And with it, his ghastly past.

"Sayonara, Shadow the hedgehog…"

And the Ultimate Lifeform, with the utterance of two words, left his past behind for good.

"Chaos Control."

He disappeared then, in a burst of brilliant jade flame.

And indeed, for the first time in Shadow's life, the chaos of his existence, was indeed controlled.

For now…


	2. A New Mission

2

Some liked to call Shadow cold, vicious, and dangerous. To others however, he was reserved, secretive, but underneath it all he was still a hero.

But to one Rouge the Bat, expert jewel huntress and top espionage agent within G.U.N's ranks, Shadow the Hedgehog, was a friend, and that's all he needed to be.

Unfortunately however, he wasn't a friend who found it necessary to drop by every once in a while.

It had been six months since she'd last seen him.

And it hadn't exactly been under good circumstances either.

Fighting off an alien invasion of all things wasn't exactly the most helpful of bonding experiences.

The beautiful pearly furred bat sighed and shook her head.

Sitting in her snug little office within G.U.N's HQ in Central City— because she honestly had nothing better to do today, jewel hunting had been understandably lackluster since nearly everyone had pretty much hidden away all the precious little goodies that would have gotten her attention—Rouge wondered for possibly the hundredth time why she'd been so surprised he'd left without a word, this was Shadow after all.

He was as anti-social as they came, and perfectly fine with being out on his own.

Normally this wouldn't have been such a big deal, but Shadow had actually been quite the busy hedgehog for the past few months.

Fifteen.

That was the number of bases Shadow had taken upon himself to utterly annihilate.

Wheel the clocks back maybe a year ago, and right now she'd be trying all kinds of ways to keep G.U.N's heat from bearing down on Shadow so they at least wouldn't declare him Public Enemy Number 1, _yet_ _again_, or she would be trying to find him as she in-fact had been attempting to do for the past month.

But this was where the peculiar parts come in.

First: _None _of the baseshad belonged to G.U.N.

As a matter of fact, each one of them that Shadow had destroyed had been possessed by organizations that weren't exactly on G.U.N's friendly list.

Known terrorist outposts, vicious criminal operations, basically anything that made you feel unsafe when you walked the streets at night that G.U.N was prepared to take care of, Shadow just simply, _did._

In fact, word was spreading out that Shadow was pretty much doing G.U.N's job for them and much more efficiently some would add. There were no deliberating, idle threats, final warnings or most important of all, politics, when it came to Shadow.

When that hedgehog set his mind on something, pretty much nothing could stop him. And if you were an enemy to him, well, good luck to ya, though you'd probably end up dead within a week.

Doom could probably attest to that much.

And Second: Commander Brutus, chief Commander of the entire Guardian Units of Nations Corp, was being surprisingly noncommittal about the entire situation, when before, particularly during the Black Arms Invasion, he'd been all hellfire and brimstone in trying to get Shadow taken down, permanently.

Rouge sighed again.

_Men._

Just when you think you've figured out all the answers, they change the questions.

Giggling at that thought, the white bat got up from her seat and stretched.

Her wings, still growing, though already quite large despite her young age, unfolded from behind her back, slowly spreading and with a single flap they had recovered from any un-comfort from when she had been seating.

Maybe it was time to go out for a good 'ol fashioned jewel hunt. The sheer thrill always cleared her mind, and it was good practice for the ops that G.U.N always required of her.

_Yeah that's just what I need… hmm… I wonder if that echidna's in the mood for a little fun. I haven't tried to take his precious gem for awhile now. I bet he's feeling lonely._

A cunning smirk spreading on her face, Rouge walked towards the door to her office, preparing to check out for the day since G.U.N had no use for her services at the moment, when suddenly there was a knock on the door and a voice.

"Agent Rouge, I require a moment of your time."

It was Commander Brutus; she knew that gruff voice from anywhere.

_Just great, there goes the jewel hunt idea… oh well, work is work… sorry knucklehead…_

"Yes sir." she said out loud, and went back over to her desk and sat on the edge of it as the Commander let himself in.

He was a tall man, but then again, when compared to most Mobians, pretty much any adult human was incredibly tall, but Rouge could tell that the Commander was exceptional even to his own kind.

Despite a very few wrinkles, and dark gray hair that forecasted his age, his face was chiseled with solidity by his strong chin and the second most piercing pair of eyes she'd ever seen—a heterochromatic pair of amber and blue— which only a certain hedgehog's angry leer could manage to surpass.

And if his physical stature wasn't enough for you, the dozens of medals from conflicts past that plastered the right side of the Commander's uniform were to almost certainly get the job done.

"Hello O Captain my Captain," she teasingly greeted as he came inside to stand in front her. "What daring adventure do you have in store for me this time? Don't forget, if it's anywhere near, say… a crystal formation, or maybe even a gold mine, you don't even have to bother paying me."

The Commander shook his head, a rare small grin on his face. "Duly noted as always, Agent," he replied, and then, any sign of humor instantly disappeared, his eyes quickly deadening into unreadable orbs that told nothing of the intentions within them.

The Commander and Shadow definitely had a lot more then they both would've probably liked.

"Agent Rouge," he continued, "I'm sure I don't have to inform you of the situation that has arisen over the past few months…"

_Crap… I'd hoped you wouldn't._

Rouge smirked confidently however, despite her thoughts. "Situation? Oh whatever do you mean Commander? The world's been in pretty good shape since the invasion, what could possibly be the problem? I mean we've really had very _little_ to do over the past months. _I wonder why_?"

That little tip-off she'd dropped at the end made the Commander raise an eyebrow.

"Is that right Rouge? Well then it should be a surprise to you to discover that your associate Shadow the Hedgehog has, on over a dozen occasions now, destroyed several enemy occupied headquarters around the world."

Rouge continued her game. "Really?"

Brutus nodded. "Yes."

"That's strange."

He nodded again. "It is."

"Any idea why he would be doing something like this?" she asked, truly wanting his opinion.

"I don't know Rouge, but that really isn't the point at this time." he said solemnly.

Rouge narrowed her eyes, not liking the way this conversation was going _already_.

"Well something tells me certain people of high standing aren't exactly grateful for what Shadow's been doing…"

Brutus sighed, his solid posture momentarily faltered by slumped shoulders. "They aren't. As a matter of fact, the President has just barely been able to keep his Cabinet from pressuring me into taken any kind of rash actions with Shadow."

Rouge shook her head, not even wanting to attempt at getting into the twisted, illogical realm of politics. What did catch her attention though, was the Commander's use of "_pressuring me_" in his statement.

So he actually had to be _demanded_ to act?

Against Shadow?

That was truly a breakthrough if she ever heard one!

Rouge smiled cheekily and gave Brutus a teasing half-lidded stare.

"Ahh, so you _have_ had a change of heart regarding Shady huh? A few months ago _you_ would have been the one trying to take him down."

The harsh glare she suddenly got was so fierce she jokingly threw up her hands as if to ward off a blow.

"Whoa! Easy! Sorry sir, is this still a touchy subject?"

"Let's try to keep my personal motivations out of this discussion shall we?" Brutus growled in reply.

She just couldn't help herself. "Aww, it's even a motivation?" Rouge teased.

"Agent…"

"Ok Ok. I get it." She chuckled, "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

After muttering something angrily under his breath, he explained.

"Agent Rouge the Bat, I am officially tasking you with finding Shadow the Hedgehog, and bringing him to me."

Rouge's eyes widened. Well wasn't _this_ a surprise!?

"Really now?" she said, "Why me?"

"It should be obvious." Brutus stated, "You are one of the very few people he'll let get close to him. You _are_ a friend of his aren't you?"

Rouge huffed indignantly, no longer facing him, "Some friend, not even a call or at least a hello for over six months!"

Brutus snorted. "I'm not surprised," he said flatly, "but regardless Rouge, I feel you are the only one who is fully capable of accomplishing this mission. Do you accept?"

Rouge snickered. "Well, I appreciate you making it sound like I had a choice, but all flattery aside Commander, I have to ask, just what do you want with him?"

Brutus' eyes became serious again. "You have to understand the potentially volatile situation we have here Rouge. G.U.N cannot condone vigilantism of any kind… no matter how beneficial it might be."

"Well Shadow isn't part of the government so I really doubt—"

It suddenly hit Rouge at that moment. So _that's _what this is all about! She looked at the Commander with her stunned gazed to which he only nodded in understanding.

"That's right Rouge, I want him with us."

No… that couldn't be it. There was no way anybody could be _that_ crazy!

"You've got to be freakin kidding me!" she exclaimed.

"Keep it down agent!" Brutus snapped, looking around suspiciously as if he suddenly didn't trust the confined spaces of her office, "This is still highly classified information!"

"You want Shadow to join G.U.N!?" Rouge loudly whispered, trying to keep her voice in check, "I know you of all people really haven't already forgotten Shadow's history with us!? With you!? There's no way he'll go for this!"

"There is no other option Rouge, in fact it's the only one the entire Cabinet, and even the President himself was willing to accept," Brutus reasoned, "We can't have Shadow roaming around the world destroying all that he sees fit. He's making the world nervous, and too many are now claiming that we've employed him as our own personal attack dog to keep everyone in-check."

"But that's not true!" Rouge almost shouted.

"Agent!"

"Right… sorry." She said sheepishly, and with a much quieter voice said, "You and I both know Shadow isn't anyone's property."

"Of course _I_ do, but certain factions, the Acorn Kingdom being one them, don't know well enough to share that view."

The silence that suddenly filled the room couldn't have been more heavy and menacing.

Rouge, for one of the rare moments in her life couldn't think of anything to say.

The Kingdom of Acorn, possibly the last monarchy left on Earth, probably the most powerful in history, was actually getting jumpy because of Shadow's activities?

"Shit…" she whispered.

"My sentiments exactly Agent Rouge. This fire needs to be put out while it's still so small."

_Geez Shadow, and I'm the troublemaker?_

Rouge sighed. _Why was it always the quiet ones?_

Rouge nodded. "Alright then… I'll do it." she said, and fluidly slid off her desk to stand again, "I'm hoping you've had better luck at keeping track of his whereabouts then I have, because if not, this is going to take me awhile."

The second she said that she wished she hadn't. The Commander gave her an odd look. "So you _have _been looking for him." he stated with a slight air of disbelief.

However Rouge was always ready to land on her feet.

"Well of course I have, like I said he's my friend. Don't I have a right to look for my friend if he goes missing?"

Brutus snorted, "I wouldn't exactly categorize what he's doing as "missing" but I understand." He said, "But do not worry agent, we've discovered a pattern to his movements. Thankfully, he has remained within West Mobius, which is why this has yet to become an international incident. However, if we don't act immediately, it soon may be."

"Well that's good… I guess." she said, "So, where is he headed next?"

"As far as we can tell, he's been moving in an outward circle from central city. Judging from this pattern he should now be headed towards the northern region of this continent, Rainbow City, which is where, we believe, has been the hiding spot of the Dark Fangs."

_And it just keeps getting better and better…_

"Dingoes? Great, like we weren't going to have to deal with them sooner or later anyway. Well I bet Stryker's going to love this…" Rouge muttered.

If Eggman was a demented threat, then General Kage Stryker would be the Mobian equivalent of that but far less intelligent and even more deadly. Though he'd done nothing on as large a scale as Eggman, skirmishes between G.U.N and his Dingo forces around the globe were becoming more and more common.

Something big was bound to happen sooner or later and Shadow just might unintentionally—as if he'd care anyway—wind up being a catalyst.

As if he'd read some of her thoughts Brutus grinned again. "Agent Rouge if you're able to pull this off, we'll be finding out personally how he feels about it."

Rouge smiled. "Well I have always wanted to see what Downunda is like Commander Brutus." she said and walked past him towards the door.

"One more thing agent,"

Rouge turned.

"If Shadow doesn't cooperate.... if you don't feel up to bringing him in, there is always Wolfpack. I know he is your friend, but he is the Ultimate Life-form and he _is_ dangerous."

As if she already didn't know! But she doubted it would come to that. And even if it did… well she wasn't exactly a push-over despite this beautiful figure.

"Don't worry about it," she said, giving him a wink, "You gave me an order to bring Shadow in and that's exactly what I'm going to do, even if I have to drag him here myself. Besides, I hear Rainbow City was relatively untouched during the invasion. Pretty nice jewelry exhibit up there, I wouldn't want to risk having him blow _that_ up now do I?"

Brutus rolled his eyes, well aware of his agent's "kleptomanial tendencies" and it was only because she was indeed the best that she wasn't currently serving what would be a rather lengthy prison term. However it was a bit aggravating to recieve complaints from halfway across the world about missing treaures when you knew full well what was the cause.

"Please realize that your "shopping ventures" are also catching me quite a-bit of flack as well agent, perhaps it would be best if you simply _bought _what catches your eye instead of…"

Brutus suddenly paused turning to her and immediately shook his head.

For Rouge the Bat was gone.

"I suppose not." Brutus grumbled.


	3. A Hero

A Hero...

He was not a hero...

This world had no heroes.

Not even the blue hedgehog was a hero. Battling the tyrannical schemes of a demented doctor from time when there were so many greater threats in the world could barely grant you such a romantic title.

And Shadow the hedgehog, was definitely not a hero.

He had not saved this world from Black Doom because it was right, he'd done it simply because he'd made a little girl a promise to protect this planet from all threats, and he was intent on keeping it.

Even now, his crusade against the vile beings on Mobius was not some valiant stand against evil, or because he personally felt driven to.

He did it simply because he owed Maria his very existence, for the kindness and the love she'd shown him, for giving her life for him....

He would fight forever if that's what it took to fulfill such a great debt, and he very well could. For immortality knew no bounds. With it he could very well rid the world of those who would continue to fill Mobius with pain and suffering.

Shadow snorted, _now_ he was beginning to get too far ahead of himself.

He'd barely even begun this purging and already he felt he could truly eliminate all the threats?

He'd heard one too many of the blue hedgehog's bigheaded assertions of his superiority to the Doctor's schemes....

It would be hard enough doing all of this by himself, and adding to his troubles was the eventuality that he would sooner or later have to deal with G.U.N. He knew for sure that his actions hadn't gone unnoticed and expected any day now for G.U.N to make it known he was starting to get on their nerves by doing their job for them.

_Oh well. Let them come. _

Perhaps they would make his ventures a little more interesting as it was becoming quite boring really; the ease of his path of destruction.

Every time it was the same.

He would arrive, be greeted by surprised faces, pathetic fools who were, despite the danger they presented, completely unprepared for an attack against them of any kind.

Then, he would crush them. All of them.

With the power of Chaos he would send the cowards scattering as he destroyed absolutely everything around him that they could use to spread their own destruction.

While Shadow prided himself on being efficient, he would admit that he that every so often left stragglers, but only so that the survivors could run like the gutless worms they all were to let their leaders--if he of course had not already disposed of them--know that there time was up. That something was coming for them, all of them.

And that something was the Ultimate Life-form.

Ahead of him, he could see the bright lights of his next destination.

Rainbow City....It had taken him days to reach it.

The night sky was brilliantly illuminated by the gleaming beams of color that had earned this city its namesake.

Such a shame...

If what he'd heard of the Dingoe Regime was true, then this city would soon be considering something a little less colorful to go by.

If there even was a city left to name...


End file.
